Building A New Home? Don’t Miss These Steps

There are few thing as exciting as shopping for a new home. Just the idea of looking for the perfect space in the perfect area that you can decorate and make yours. The initial stages are especially exciting; going online and checking out listings or driving around your favorite neighbourhoods and daydreaming. The experience is especially fun if you’re upsizing or shopping for your first home. It takes a long time to be able to save up for a downpayment; finally seeing the fruits of your labor become a reality is an overwhelming experience, especially when you get into the logistics of building out your plan.

You have to first get pre-approved for a loan, find a competent realtor and once you get all your ducks in a row, the hunt will finally begin. While house hunting may seem like fun, in theory, it’s a very frustrating endeavor, even if you have a high budget. For example, if you’re looking for a home in a desirable area, often times they are older, cultured areas.

Although beautiful, most of the homes are run down and you can have a hard time finding something acceptable, the last thing you want is to be burdened with is repairs and complications. For this reason, many people shopping in these types of areas opt to buy a nice property, knock down the house and build anew. If you are undertaking this kind of project, there are important aspects of it that tend to slip through the cracks. Don’t forget these important steps when building a new home:

1) Vet Your Home Builder

This may go without saying for many people and it cannot be stressed enough. There are a lot of builders that are looking for a big payday and tend to cut corners or drag out the process and have you waiting much longer than the stated deadline. A good resource for finding a good builder is your real estate agent. Make sure you also check online for reviews, choose a builder that has several good reviews and read them through so you can get a feel for the type of company you’ll be dealing with.

2) Structural Engineer

Don’t make the mistake that many make and allow your builder to use their own structural engineer, it’s a conflict of interest. Make sure you hire your own so that they can have you as their priority in determining the structural integrity of the planned home.

3) Hire An Attorney

On purchases this massive it’s essential to hire your own attorney to review contracts, warranties and cost estimates. Unless you’re well versed in building and contracts, you’re going to need help to ensure everything is on the up an up and there aren’t any unrealistic demands from the builder’s side.

4) Budgeting

These types of projects always go over budget, so be prepared to spend up to 25% more than the quote to be on the safe side. Odds are it won’t go that high, but the last thing you want to do is max out your budget and be left with an incomplete home. Make sure examine the cost estimate line by line and determine potential areas where you can go over budget and always err on the side of caution.

5) Picking Your Homesite

Picking the right site is very tricky, you may find the perfect location, but there are other factors to consider. You need to ensure the land is solid, if it’s somewhere close to water, for example, it could be unstable and require expensive foundational reinforcements. Also, look into building codes carefully and ensure you can build your home how you like without violating any.